The analysis of previous industrial revolutions has shown that the consequences of technological innovations on employment depend on the degree of complementarity between new technologies and workers. So far, this complementarity has clearly benefited the most qualified workers (skill-biased technological change); however, in the current context, recent developments in generative artificial intelligence could change this situation. This article aims to briefly present the current state of affairs regarding this subject based on a bibliographic review of recent academic works. The main conclusion is that the available evidence on the effects of artificial intelligence on employment does not show any significant variation in relation to previous technological changes. However, if AI-based technologies continue to develop and adapt to new tasks, we can expect their effects to be much more disruptive than in the past, although it is too early to tell. In any case, it is essential that educational systems are flexible enough to cope with these changes and respond adequately to the new needs of the labour market.

In this article, we present a brief survey of employment via microtasks platforms. The main issues we review are the following: the economic rationale of these platforms; the estimation of the level of this type of employment; and the profile and working conditions of these workers. We close the article with a discussion of social challenges in this new type of employment.